Published: Thursday, September 5, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, September 5, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.

SARASOTA - The situation at Orange Avenue and Dolphin Street is triggering an emotional response from business owners, the way only one Sarasota issue can.

Parking.

Or, in this case, the imminent lack thereof.

Burns Square merchants and property owners are warning the city: if it does not renew its lease of the Michael Saunders parking lot, there will be an uproar.

The city leased the lot from the company and provided public parking near Burns Court since January 2012. It let the lease expire in July, after commissioners said they want businesses to pay for parking.

While the lot has remained open since then, Michael Saunders spokesman Tom Heatherman said they will have to padlock the entrance soon.

“Were trying to be as accommodating to the city as possible,” Heatherman said. “We can't just let it pend for too long because of liability issues.”

Closing the lot, which contains 60 spots, will hurt businesses, visitors and residents of the area, several Burns Square business owners said. Without that space, they said there is not enough parking on the streets and in their companies' lots to meet the need.

“Nobody really saw this coming,” said Cherylyn Van Kirk, who owns Starflower Essentials in Burns Square. “If they didn't plan on renewing it, do something. Because here we are at season again and they pulled the rug out from under us.”

Commercial and residential property owners like Van Kirk have written to the city over the past month, asking them to keep the parking available. They met with Parking Manager Mark Lyons and City Manager Tom Barwin on Thursday. The officials discussed potential options to alleviate the situation, like adding diagonal spaces on nearby streets.

“We want to help them as much as we possibly can as quickly as we possibly can,” Lyons said.

'Bite the bullet'

But, at the direction of the City Commission, they are also also pushing the Burns Square community to consider long-term options to be self-sustainable.

At a commission meeting in June, staff told commissioners the Saunders Family Limited Partnership, which owns the lot, would continue its lease agreement with the city for $2,100 a month.

The commissioners said they were interested in having businesses pay for the lot. Mayor Shannon Snyder said he was surprised Burns Court has not set up its own business improvement district, like St. Armands and downtown, to cover the cost of things like this.

“They need to go ahead and bite the bullet,” Snyder said.

Van Kirk said putting the burden of paying for parking on the business owners is “totally unacceptable.”

“What we're saying is address this urgent issue. You owe us that,” she said. “That lot is so essential to Burns Square growth.”

A city-wide parking study done by Walker Parking Consultants this summer advises the city to either purchase or maintain the parking lot.

Several of the businesses and restaurants in the district do not have their own parking lots.

“How do they expect these businesses to survive if people can't park anywhere?” said LeeAnne Swor, who owns L.Boutique.

Her business has its own parking lot, but she said she needs additional space for employees. There is street parking, but that forces people to run out and move their car every few hours.

She said the neighborhood understands that money is tight at the city, but she hopes they can renew the lease.

<p><em>SARASOTA</em> - The situation at Orange Avenue and Dolphin Street is triggering an emotional response from business owners, the way only one Sarasota issue can. </p><p>Parking. </p><p>Or, in this case, the imminent lack thereof.</p><p>Burns Square merchants and property owners are warning the city: if it does not renew its lease of the Michael Saunders parking lot, there will be an uproar. </p><p>The city leased the lot from the company and provided public parking near Burns Court since January 2012. It let the lease expire in July, after commissioners said they want businesses to pay for parking.</p><p>While the lot has remained open since then, Michael Saunders spokesman Tom Heatherman said they will have to padlock the entrance soon. </p><p>“Were trying to be as accommodating to the city as possible,” Heatherman said. “We can't just let it pend for too long because of liability issues.”</p><p>Closing the lot, which contains 60 spots, will hurt businesses, visitors and residents of the area, several Burns Square business owners said. Without that space, they said there is not enough parking on the streets and in their companies' lots to meet the need.</p><p>“Nobody really saw this coming,” said Cherylyn Van Kirk, who owns Starflower Essentials in Burns Square. “If they didn't plan on renewing it, do something. Because here we are at season again and they pulled the rug out from under us.”</p><p>Commercial and residential property owners like Van Kirk have written to the city over the past month, asking them to keep the parking available. They met with Parking Manager Mark Lyons and City Manager Tom Barwin on Thursday. The officials discussed potential options to alleviate the situation, like adding diagonal spaces on nearby streets. </p><p>“We want to help them as much as we possibly can as quickly as we possibly can,” Lyons said. </p><p><b>'Bite the bullet'</b></p><p>But, at the direction of the City Commission, they are also also pushing the Burns Square community to consider long-term options to be self-sustainable. </p><p>At a commission meeting in June, staff told commissioners the Saunders Family Limited Partnership, which owns the lot, would continue its lease agreement with the city for $2,100 a month.</p><p>The commissioners said they were interested in having businesses pay for the lot. Mayor Shannon Snyder said he was surprised Burns Court has not set up its own business improvement district, like St. Armands and downtown, to cover the cost of things like this. </p><p>“They need to go ahead and bite the bullet,” Snyder said.</p><p>Van Kirk said putting the burden of paying for parking on the business owners is “totally unacceptable.”</p><p>“What we're saying is address this urgent issue. You owe us that,” she said. “That lot is so essential to Burns Square growth.”</p><p>A city-wide parking study done by Walker Parking Consultants this summer advises the city to either purchase or maintain the parking lot. </p><p>Several of the businesses and restaurants in the district do not have their own parking lots. </p><p>“How do they expect these businesses to survive if people can't park anywhere?” said LeeAnne Swor, who owns L.Boutique. </p><p>Her business has its own parking lot, but she said she needs additional space for employees. There is street parking, but that forces people to run out and move their car every few hours.</p><p>She said the neighborhood understands that money is tight at the city, but she hopes they can renew the lease.</p>